Chapter 2268: The Ladies of the Manor and the Doctor’s Gains

Chapter 2268: Chapter 2268: The Ladies of the Manor and the Doctor’s Gains

"Princess Angelina is also here? That’s great! I thought I wouldn’t see her again for a long, long time, many years later. I want to introduce her to Little Liana! Angelina will like her too."

"Ang~"

The little beast let out a low growl, and after Emilia finished, she pursed her lips and asked:

"So... is Angelina also a member of the Witch Council? Will she become just as very, very, very beautiful and shapely as those ladies just now?"

"Don’t say that in front of Angelina, she’ll be hurt... Hmm? How do you know about the Council?"

Shard asked in surprise, and the elf girl with sharp ears sitting on the bed said proudly:

"Shard, don’t treat me like I know nothing. Our clan has records of the Witch Council, and as a future candidate for clan leader, I’ve also looked into those records. Beautiful ladies that don’t look mortal gathering together, if not the Witch Council, then is it the Succubus Club?"

She immediately realized she said something wrong, but luckily Shard didn’t mind:

"Angelina is not yet a member, but she is connected to the Council.

Anyway, you don’t need to worry too much about the upcoming events, just enjoy the summer vacation. I’ll contact your two companions later, and let them return to Saint Byrons after completing the academy tasks. As for when you’ll head back... I’ll inform Miss Danester for you."

Emilia nodded swiftly, feeling this unforgettable summer becoming more and more interesting.

Shard quickly went downstairs and found Princess Angelina, who was tidying up her room by herself. The little princess intentionally trained her independence, so she didn’t let the maid help. As for Dorothy, she stood by and guided Angelina on organizing the wardrobe and tidying the bed.

After seeing Shard, Dorothy hugged him lightly:

"Is the matter with the Countess settled? Quite skillful, Shard."

Actually, before the witches returned, Shard had already met them upstairs, and Tifa followed him up after that. Therefore, Dorothy already knew about the morning’s events, and of course, she also knew Emilia was upstairs.

"When you say this, it makes me feel even more like I’m playing with others’ emotions... Let’s go upstairs and see Emilia together; she’s already awake."

Angelina immediately looked up expectantly at Shard:

"Can I go see the little unicorn?"

"Of course, it’s right next to Emilia."

Shard said with a smile, and Angelina put down the clothes she was folding, quickly walking over to Shard and Dorothy. Dorothy also smiled at her "sister," then inquired Shard:

"Will Emilia be staying here all the time?"

"Yes, she will."

"That’s good, letting her stay with Angelina puts both Lecia and me at ease. They look after each other, which is much better than letting Angelina run around alone."

Clearly, the little princess didn’t hear these words, as her mind was entirely focused on meeting the little unicorn soon.

Sure enough, Angelina and Emilia were very happy to reunite in Moon Bay. The princess from Tobesk and the elf from Saint Byrons hadn’t known each other long, but they had already become very good friends.

With permission, Angelina gently stroked the little unicorn, then couldn’t help but giggle. Dorothy, standing by, also wanted to reach out but was avoided by the timid little unicorn.

"Oh yes, I’m no longer a maiden."

She said this, then glanced at Shard, who naturally knew what she was teasing about.

He and Dorothy didn’t stay here long but let Angelina accompany Emilia, as they had plenty of topics to chat about.

Afterwards, the two went to the study, and until they left Moon Bay to return home that evening, Shard didn’t leave the place.

The girls who had just arrived at Moon Bay needed to understand the current situation in detail, including Miss Swift arriving from Midshire Fort probably in the next day or two. They were considered the first wave of support.

The second batch of support from the Council included another team of maids led by Miss Galina from the County of Saradiel, Sister Delphine, and Miss Aphrola, who were handling affairs in the New World, and Megan and Audrey who might appear in Moon Bay at any time.

But aside from Miss Swift leading Granny Cassandra’s apprentices, the arrival dates of the other witches were not confirmed, so it could be considered that the main force sent by the Council to handle this matter had all arrived.

Of course, rather than being asked about the current situation in Moon Bay by Miss Aphrola and Miss Sylvia, the Countess was more interested in Shard’s earlier activities. But the witches insisted that the official business should come first and promised to tell her everything during their stay overnight tonight.

Certainly, this was temporarily unrelated to Shard. Because he had to visit the doctor in the evening, he didn’t even stay for dinner. But before leaving, he talked to Emilia about the information she gathered, and then bid farewell to everyone.

He promised to come again tomorrow, and the day after, he would attend Margaret’s welcome feast with everyone.

After all, Miss Eles was waiting for him at the feast.

"Dorothy, let’s go back together."

As dusk fell, the witches, arm-in-arm at the mansion’s entrance, bid farewell to Shard. The rain that had persisted all day had stopped at this point, leaving the sky painted red by the setting sun exceptionally clear—a rare good weather for Moon Bay City.

The sunset glow reflected in the courtyard puddles, Margaret was about to return to Margaret’s Manor, but her two witch mentors were staying over here tonight. Tifa and the other maids would be living here as well, and they had already been assigned the task of setting up rituals around the manor.

Angelina and the "just recovered from illness" Emilia stood at the forefront of the crowd, waving goodbye to Shard. No one knew that after hearing that part of her novel was piled up in Emilia’s room, Angelina had nervously asked:

"Did you open ’The Tale of Prince Williamette’ and ’The Tree House Legend’, and then wipe some water to discover hidden texts in the layers?"

"I’m not leaving today."

Dorothy shook her head and, standing beside Angelina, patted her on the shoulder:

"Lecia asked me to accompany Angelina here for another night before leaving. She’s worried Angelina will feel homesick."

The Little Princess pursed her lips to conceal her expression, so Shard nodded:

"Alright then, ladies, see you all tomorrow."

He waved his hand, and in the glow of the sunset, he threw the crystal shoes and disappeared at the doorway. Only then did the ladies waving goodbye lower their hands, but none of them immediately turned back into the house.

Miss Sylvia chuckled as she nudged Miss Belindel, and the latter finally approached Dorothy:

"Miss Luisa, I didn’t get a chance to greet you properly in the study earlier. Hello, I’ve heard about your novels back in Moon Bay too."

"Hello, Earl."

Using her fluent Casenric, Dorothy recalled the things Luviya specifically entrusted her to do before she left, and greeted with a smile:

"Greetings from Luviya, shall we talk tonight?"

Miss Sylvia and Miss Benanis were not surprised by this. They all knew of the formidable "power" of that violet-eyed diviner. Miss Belindel nodded somewhat nervously, feeling strange about her reaction.

As for Dorothy... and Miss Galina together at Yordle Palace, Lecia was smiling and saying in her heart:

"Luviya is the first, I am the eternal second."

(Mia running...)

Returning home after throwing the crystal shoes marked the temporary end of a busy day. With no one else at home, Shard bent down to pick up Mia, who hadn’t seen him all day, wrote a letter to leave at home in case someone came looking for him later, then took the cat out for dinner, and went straight to the doctor’s place by carriage.

It was only as he arrived at the Schneider Psychological Clinic that the gaslights on the street had just come on.

The doctor hadn’t eaten yet. After bidding farewell to his last client for the day, he went with Shard to the meeting room frequently used for team meetings:

"Sit down, detective. Let’s have a celebratory drink as always."

He brought out the champagne and glasses he had prepared in advance. Seeing the doctor in such high spirits, Shard took a sip as well:

"Doctor, are your injuries alright?"

Speaking of which, the doctor almost remained unscathed in the encounter with the demon today, but instead got injured by Emilia and the "Sword of Light."

"It’s nothing, it’s nothing, these are just small injuries. Although there were some unexpected incidents, today’s operation was relatively smooth."

The doctor shook his head with a smile:

"I knew there would definitely be something unexpected. I don’t believe that hunting an Ancient One of Fanarius’ level would go exactly as planned. The ease of this operation far exceeded my expectations. Did you know? I was actually prepared for it to escape by luck, and me having to stay in Moon Bay for months to hunt it down."

Saying this, he raised his glass and clinked it lightly with Shard’s:

"If future demon-hunting actions go as smoothly as this one, it would be wonderful. Oh, the demon remains are left for you, you can take them with you later. Let’s talk about my gains. I’m preparing to gather materials to promote to the Nine Rings before winter comes."

Shard straightened up, stroking the cat:

"You’re promoting to High Ring? Looks like the gains this time are quite significant."

"Indeed. Don’t look down on that crow’s lack of demonstrated combat ability today. That’s because we didn’t give it the chance. I don’t want to keep repeating how fortunate this event was. In short, once I finish digesting its power, at least one ’Misfortune’ and one ’Crow’ will be available. Upgrading to the Nine Rings won’t be an issue."

"This will be our team’s first High Ring."

"Your promotion to High Ring is just a matter of time, isn’t it?"

The doctor said, not in compliment but as a fact:

"There are some other gains too. As per our previous agreement, the power and demon materials you cannot handle are mine, and the rest is yours."

He lifted the briefcase from under the coffee table and opened it, revealing six coins and a few gemstones, besides the viscous bottled "demon remains."